Cape Crow
Corvus capensis
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyCorvidae (Crows, Jays, and Magpies)
- GenusCorvus (Crows and Ravens)
- SpeciesCorvus capensis (Cape Crow)
About the Cape Crow
The Cape crow or black crow (Corvus capensis) is slightly larger (48–50 cm in length) than the carrion crow and is completely black with a slight gloss of purple in its feathers. It also has proportionately longer legs, wings, and tail, and has a much longer, slimmer bill that seems to be adapted for probing into the ground for invertebrates. The head feathers have a coppery-purple gloss and the throat feathers are quite long and fluffed out in some calls and displays.
This species occurs in two large separate regions of the African continent. One form ranges from the Cape at the southern tip of Africa north to southern Angola and across to the east coast of Mozambique. The other population occurs in a large area from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya in central East Africa. The more northern population is on average slightly smaller than the southern. It inhabits open grassland, moorland, and agricultural areas with some trees or woodland in the vicinity for nesting. It seems to thrive especially in agricultural areas.
It eats grain and other seeds, and invertebrates, which it digs for with powerful downward stabs of... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Golden Gate Highlands National Park
White-necked Raven
Corvus albicollis
Pied Crow
Corvus albus
Pied Starling
Lamprotornis bicolor
Red-winged Starling
Onychognathus morio
African Stonechat
Saxicola torquatus
Cape Bunting
Emberiza capensis
Southern Fiscal
Lanius collaris
Cape White-eye
Zosterops virens
Cape Weaver
Ploceus capensis
African Red-eyed Bulbul
Pycnonotus nigricans
Bokmakierie
Telophorus zeylonus
Rock Martin
Ptyonoprogne fuligula
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Cape Crow in Golden Gate Highlands National Park?
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Crow sighting in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, based on 67 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Cape Crow in Golden Gate Highlands National Park?
September has the highest sighting rate for Cape Crow in Golden Gate Highlands National Park in our monthly data.